Paramount is willing to pay big money for Taylor Sheridan’s Universe.
Sheridan’s shows, which include “Yellowstone” and the spinoff “1923,” have proven to be successful for the network, but costly.
One episode of “1923,” which stars Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren, costs Paramount $22 million, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Sheridan also seems to have full control over the creation of his shows, including locations for filming and which farm animals are used.
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Helen Mirren, Taylor Sheridan, and Harrison Ford attend Paramount+’s “1923” premiere. (Photo by Mindy Small)
Sheridan’s current business model has Paramount paying him to use his horses, cattle and wranglers, the WSJ reported. “Yellowstone” also films on a ranch Sheridan owns, amounting to another paycheck he cashes from the network.
It reportedly costs Paramount $50,000 a week to film at one of Sheridan’s ranches and $25 per cow to rent cattle from the show’s creator. Sheridan also runs a “cowboy camp” that trains the actors.
All of this on top of Sheridan being paid to write and produce “Yellowstone,” along with a handful of spinoff shows.
Sheridan revealed he pushed for control before launching “Yellowstone” in a previous interview with The Atlantic.
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The cast of “Yellowstone.” (Frazer Harrison)
The filmmaker told Viacom, which owns Paramount, to have the series there would be no writers’ room, no notes on the show and that nobody would see an outline. The only thing Sheridan wanted from Viacom was the money.
“I’m shooting over $1 billion worth of television shows,” Sheridan told the outlet. “That’s how much money they’ve trusted me with, and I have to go make more than that with the product I create. So yes, it’s a tremendous amount of responsibility. … I’m aware of the opportunity, and so I do spread myself thin as a result.”
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